Good morning, everyone –

With just a few weeks to go before the midterm elections, Congress is trying to finalize and pass the Register of Copyrights Selection and Accountability Act (S. 1010), a Senate companion to House bill (H.R. 1695) passed in 2017. This legislation transfers the hiring authority of the Copyright Register from the Librarian of Congress to the president. ALA strongly opposes this bill and needs you to contact your U.S. Senator by 2:30 pm today to express your personal opposition to this bill and ask her or him to vote against it.

S.1010 is scheduled to be considered by the Senate Rules Committee at 2:30 pm today.  We will communicate developments to you after the hearing. It is possible that we will need to activate ALA grassroots broadly before the session is over. For now, we need your help to log a call with your Senator, who sits on the Committee on Rules and Administration.

Here’s a script for your call:

• Hi, I am a constituent of Senator ____ and my name is ____.
• I am calling today to request the Senator Oppose S. 1010, the Register of Copyrights Selection and Accountability Act, which will be considered by the Senate Rules Committee today.
• This bill would make the position of the Register of Copyrights subject to Presidential appointment and Senate confirmation. Under current law, the Librarian of Congress selects the Register.
• Lack of coordination with the Library of Congress was cited by GAO as an impediment to Copyright Office modernization. The Library of Congress and the Copyright Office are now working collaboratively to upgrade information technology.
• The Copyright Office has made gains under the Library of Congress that have been documented with the House and Senate Rules Committees.
• Appointment by the President would politicize the Copyright Office and make it more likely to favor the interests of rights holders over consumers, educators, students, innovators and the public.
• The library community urges Senator ____ to vote No!

Here's the call list. You can speak to the front desk or ask them to connect you to the staffer who handles the Rules portfolio. We appreciate your help to log these calls – please let me know if you are able to make contact.

Thank you,

Kathi

Kathi Kromer

Associate Executive Director

Public Policy and Advocacy

202-628-8410  ▪  [log in to unmask]

www.ala.org/wo